The date? December, 1998.
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As Christmas drew near, it was sport, school awards, Christmas parties, the CK Ball (surely not Calvin Klein??) and shopping specials in the news.
It was hot, damned hot on the east coast of Australia.
As temperatures soared to above average by 12 to 20 degrees, Lakes Entrance posted a top temperature of 41.4, breaking its previous December high by 1.4 degrees.
Five volunteer fire fighters from Geelong were killed in the Linton bushfire on December 2, when it burned through private land and state forests near the township of Linton in Victoria.
The 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race was marred by tragedy when, during an exceptionally strong storm (which had similar strength winds to a lower-category hurricane), five boats sank and six people died.
Of the 115 boats that started, only 44 made it to Hobart.
As a result, the crew eligibility rules were tightened, requiring a higher minimum age and experience.
G. Bruce Knecht wrote a book about this race called "The Proving Ground".
A coronial enquiry into the race was critical of both the race management at the time and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
In cricket, Mark Taylor equalled Don Bradman’s record of 334 in a test match against Pakistan.
Taylor was not out and declares the innings closed when he reached that score.
Shane Warne and Mark Waugh confessed to accepting money from an Indian bookmaker when the Australian Cricket Team was on tour in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1994.